In 2004 when I was Chairman of Rock the Vote, I had the chance opportunity to meet and spend some quality time with then-Illinois State Senator Barack Obama, the day before he gave his now famous speech at the DNC in Boston. That meeting inspired me to do something I had never done before -- seriously support an individual political candidate.
When Barack decided to run for the presidency in 2007, I had the crazy idea that maybe the right song could get his message across and actually influence people to get involved. I observed that for some strange reason, music had never been effectively used as an emotional driver to engage and inspire people in politics. Sure, there were artists regularly performing at rallies and fundraisers, but were minds really being changed? Most of the people going to these events were either big music fans there for just the music, or they were already committed and didn't need to be persuaded. Yes, Bill Clinton had adopted the Fleetwood Mac song and its message, but it wasn't a song originally created for his campaign. Technology had also changed and what emerged was a viral and connected world, without distribution barriers. It was becoming much easier to get music in front of people from several different directions.
After months and months of false starts trying to get a song written with various artists and songwriters, and after a number of heart-to-heart conversations, I finally convinced my friend will.i.am to take a crack at writing something inspirational (and for the first time he seriously considered it only because I pointed out that Super Tuesday was then 10 days away and if Barack didn't make a good showing then, the game was over. It was a now or never moment).
